Hansa
UN-'Hansa' or Lord Hansa was the god of cynics and the elderly. He was the thirty-first disciple of YISUN,KSBD Liturgy and one of the most frequently-mentioned deities alongside Aesma, Ogam and Prim. He was a grand questioner of YISUN. Unlike Yisun’s other disciple, Pree Ashma, he had no hunger in his heart for dominion of the universe, but a miserly scrutiny and a heart of iron nails. He was not an aspirant for royalty, and thereby attained it through little effort. The goddess Prim was his daughter.KSBD 2-31 History Hansa was born of YIS and UN with the rest of the Multiplicity. Virtually nothing is known of his youth, if he had such a thing in the first place. Being a god, it's possible Hansa came into existence as venerable and world-weary as he's always been. He was a frequent companion of YISUN, who was fond of him because of his scrutinous nature and iron will. Hansa figures in several of YISUN's teachings recorded in the Psalms, including the lie of the giant and the ant, the lie of the iron plum, the lie of the water house and the lie of the small light. Hansa had a long and worn pipe which he always kept with him and would eventually lead to his annihilation. Since he was royalty, he knew this, and kept it close to him as a reminder of his circular death. He is known to have had a dislike for Ogam due to the war god's drunken boasting, which frequently interrupted his philosophical fugues. He lived in a house of black iron nails with his daughter Prim, whom he put harshly to constant housework - that said, he seems to have cared about her enough to recount YISUN's teaching to her. He was widely reknowned all around the Wheel as a great sage and a wise advisor. Therefore, he had many visitors that stumbled often drunkenly and usually brazenly across the black threshold of his high hall, wisdom seekers and old friends, pilgrims and warriors clad in brass, those that had come to seek his counsel or those that had come seeking revenge. Death The accounts of Hansa's death are paradoxical - two alternate narratives are presented. According to one, when the Wheel was forged and the four orders of inheritors established, all the gods, including Hansa, were self-annihilated and removed from the current plane of existence.Abaddon's comment under Prim Leaves Her Father's House According to the other, Hansa was slain in a drunken rage by the god Akaroth during lunisnight celebrations, when Hansa, caught in a heated philosophical fugue, committed the violation of letting his pipe smoke rise and befoul the all-wind that permeated that house and nourished the ways of the void.Prim Leaves Her Father's House Afterwards, Akaroth's retainers, acting without the knowledge of their lord, demolished Hansa's estate, slaughtered his servants, and tormented his daughter Prim in retaliation. Prim embarked on an agonizing journey to find a proper burial place for her father, but the now-dead Hansa constantly berated her for choosing improper resting places. Eventually Prim cut herself free from the burden of Hansa's servitude and attained Royalty, leading to Hansa's body being swallowed into the Road. After Hansa's death, Aesma became YISUN's thirty-second disciple.KSBD 3-39 Commentary Hansa was one of the oldest of YISUN’s servants. His bones were old and weary and ground down from the dust of five hundred thousand worlds, and he lived in a black house made from iron nails with his daughter Prim. A cold had settled in his flesh from his conception and his temperament was sometimes quite brittle, yet he was a smooth talker, an excellent patkun player, a worldly smoker, owned several fine wooden tables and a carved bone tea pot; he was fond of his smoking pipe, his sword with a hilt of white ash, and his multiversal flame manipulator was well oiled, he was not fond of talk shows, politicians or smokeless fires. He had a peculiar belief that causal reality was a particularly harsh joke, and luck could shatter with a slight finger push. For this he was widely considered the wisest of YIS’ black sons. Lord Hansa is never pictured without his smoking pipe, his legs must always be crossed or he must be reclining in his old age, he has 3 arms and only one head. His skin must always be blue. His third arm often holds his black lacquer sword sheath. He rules the elderly, the reticent and doubting. His number is 33. KSBD 2-30 Stories * Hansa Questions YISUN about Space and Time. KSBD 3-39 * Trivia * In Broken Worlds, Hansa is the patron deity of the Master class.Broken Worlds source book * Hansa's paradoxical death may be a reference to his status as Royalty, as a true sovereign isn't deterred by things such as death. * Alternatively, it may be in reference to a verse in Book I of the Psalms: "Only an idiot cannot place his absolute certainty in paradoxes. The divine suicide is a perfect paradox. A man cannot exist without paradox – that is the full of it." * Hansa is one of the deities mentioned in the Prayer of Forgiveness offered by 82 White Chain before, during, or after engaging in combat situations. References Category:A to Z Category:Characters Category:Deities